Airport month record

JFKMAR

John F. Kennedy International in March 2026

Departures: 8,392
Month: March 2026
National, same month: 75.7%
Carriers: 6

Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at JFK, see live FAA status.

JFK in March lands a B, level with the national rate of 75.7%. About one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 8,392 flights, of which American Airlines flew 1,203 at 82.5% on time.

American Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 82.5% on time across 1,203 flights.

On time

76.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,184 completed departures

Avg delay

75 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

2.10%

Nationally in March: 2.90%

Whole year

75.7%

JFK across all twelve months

These figures cover 8,392 departures from John F. Kennedy International in March 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.

Against the year

March next to JFK's other months

Against JFK's own year, March ran level with the twelve-month rate of 75.7%, which makes it number five of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 75.2% on time and April 81.6%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

JFK month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	9,262	67.8%	91 min	6.23%	C−
August 2025	9,110	79.0%	75 min	0.92%	B+
September 2025	8,567	81.8%	74 min	0.74%	B+
October 2025	8,928	74.2%	69 min	1.46%	C
November 2025	8,626	75.8%	72 min	2.83%	B
December 2025	8,856	65.6%	76 min	4.02%	C−
January 2026	8,022	73.6%	69 min	7.12%	C−
February 2026	7,458	75.2%	74 min	8.76%	B−
March 2026 (this page)	8,392	76.4%	75 min	2.10%	B
April 2026	8,254	81.6%	59 min	0.24%	B+
May 2026	8,535	82.1%	73 min	1.08%	B
June 2026	8,750	75.0%	78 min	2.02%	B

Departure window

The best time of day to leave JFK in March

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 9 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,324 flights86.3%
8am–11am1,571 flights79.9%
11am–2pm1,353 flights80.0%
2pm–5pm1,538 flights72.9%
5pm–8pm1,428 flights71.6%
8pm–5am1,178 flights67.2%

Scale runs 60% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.3% of the time, against 67.2% for the overnight window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,571 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 82.9% on time and Sunday the weakest at 70.1%. 13 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at JFK in March

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 82.5% of the time; JetBlue Airways manages 73.7%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,861 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at JFK in March 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
JetBlue Airways	2,861	73.7%	72 min	1.26%	C
Delta Air Lines	2,537	79.5%	69 min	2.96%	B
Republic Airways	1,279	74.2%	85 min	2.58%	C
American Airlines	1,203	82.5%	94 min	1.66%	B
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	355	67.9%	51 min	2.25%	C
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	157	68.6%	88 min	2.55%	C

American leads JetBlue by 9 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of JFK in March

Routes from JFK in March 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
JFK to LAX · Los Angeles	845	87.0%	77 min	0.71%	A+
JFK to SFO · San Francisco	533	81.6%	72 min	0.94%	B+
JFK to BOS · Boston	513	71.2%	68 min	2.53%	C
JFK to MCO · Orlando	438	79.8%	76 min	4.57%	B−
JFK to FLL · Fort Lauderdale	388	67.7%	73 min	3.09%	C−
JFK to MIA · Miamithin sample	362	77.9%	81 min	2.49%	B
JFK to ATL · Atlantathin sample	306	78.5%	96 min	0.98%	B+
JFK to SJU · San Juanthin sample	302	75.6%	77 min	0.99%	B+
JFK to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	299	84.4%	57 min	1.34%	B
JFK to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	289	81.6%	57 min	2.08%	B
JFK to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample	218	74.2%	75 min	3.67%	C−
JFK to SEA · Seattlethin sample	215	48.6%	43 min	2.33%	F
JFK to SAN · San Diegothin sample	201	86.8%	60 min	1.49%	A
JFK to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	197	78.5%	57 min	1.02%	B
JFK to RDU · Raleighthin sample	197	73.8%	83 min	1.02%	C
JFK to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	186	53.9%	85 min	2.15%	F
JFK to ORD · Chicagothin sample	183	65.9%	104 min	6.01%	C−
JFK to TPA · Tampathin sample	176	78.6%	70 min	1.14%	B
JFK to AUS · Austinthin sample	176	86.5%	69 min	3.41%	A−
JFK to CLT · Charlottethin sample	150	81.4%	240 min	2.67%	B
JFK to CMH · Columbusthin sample	148	78.6%	127 min	2.03%	B
JFK to DEN · Denverthin sample	136	64.9%	53 min	1.47%	D
JFK to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample	128	74.2%	89 min	2.34%	C
JFK to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample	126	78.2%	77 min	3.97%	B−
JFK to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	124	81.0%	94 min	1.61%	B

Delay causes

What held JFK up in March

Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 144,000 reported delay minutes.

Late-arriving aircraft
39%
Carrier
34%
National Airspace System
25%
Extreme weather
1%
Security
1%

39% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 144,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 30 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 144,335 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 2.10% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.38%.

For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.2% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.

What to do with this

Flying from JFK in March

For a March trip through JFK: expect 76.4% on time and 2.10% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

John F. Kennedy International (JFK), the whole year
JFK in July67.8%
JFK in August79.0%
JFK in September81.8%
JFK in October74.2%
JFK in November75.8%
JFK in December65.6%
JFK in January73.6%
JFK in February75.2%
JFK in April81.6%
JFK in May82.1%
JFK in June75.0%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures